Hinge

ABSTRACT

A hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped base member, a substantially L-shaped hinging member rotatably attached adjacent an end of a leg thereof to the shank of said T-shaped base member, and a linking member rotatably connected adjacent one end thereof to the other leg of said L-shaped member intermediate the ends thereof, said linking member extending from said rotatable connection toward and beyond the apex of said L-shaped base member a distance such that upon parallel alignment of said leg of said L-shaped member to which said linking member is attached and said linking member, said linking member shall extend beyond the apex of said L-shaped member a distance substantially equal to the arm of said T-shaped member extending in the same direction.

United States Patent Primary Examiner-Bobby R. Gay Assistant ExaminerDoris L. Troutman Attorney-M. N. Cheairs ABSTRACT: A hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped' base member, a substantially L-shaped hinging member rotatably attached adjacent an end of a leg thereof to the shank of said T-shaped base member, and a linking member rotatably connected adjacent one end thereof to the other leg of said L-shaped member intermediate the ends thereof, said linking member extending from said rotatable connection toward and beyond the apex of said L-shaped base member a distance such that upon parallel alignment of said leg of said L-shaped member to which said linking member is attached and said linking member, said linking member shall extend beyond the apex of said L-shaped member a distance substantially equal to the arm of said T-shaped member extending in the same direction.

[72] inventor Lewis 0.Bodine P.0. Box 703 1720 Deats Road, Dickinson, Tex. 77539 [21] Appl.No. 816,521 [22] Filed Apr. 16,1969 [45] Patented Aug.3l,l97]l [54] HINGE 8 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S.CI 16/163 [5l] E05d 3/06 [50] Field ofSearch 16/163, 164,165,l62,l37,135,138;49/398;40/152.1

[5 6] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 934,149 9/1909 Englerth 16/163 2,877,033 3/1959 Koetke 16/163 A lO l l I I8 4 a Q); 2? 3 K HINGE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to hinges. Particularly, the present'invention relates to hinges useful for joining wall segments wherein it is desired to provide means for covering the adjacent edges of such wall segments. Still more particularly, the present invention relates to hinges useful for joining wall segments of three-way mirrors and like structures.

In general, three-way mirrors of the type which provide for a central stationary-mirror segment and two foldout mirror segments at opposite edges of such central mirror, have had the foldout wall segments hinged to the central wall segment by means of a continuous hinge running substantially from the bottom to the top of the joined segments. Such continuous hinges adequately provide for hinging the foldout wall segments of the mirror to the central wall segment. However, the use of such hinges leaves the edges of the central and foldout wall segments, as well as the hinge itself, in clear view when the foldout wall segments are in closed position with relation to the central wall segment. As a result, it is difficult to trim out the edges of such three-way mirrors in a decorative manner and particularly, in a manner compatible with ordinary papered walls to which the three-way mirror may be attached.

It is an object of the present invention to provide a new and novel hinge.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and novel hinge particularly useful in applications wherein the edges of sections to be joined by the hinges are otherwise exposed when such sections are in closed position with respect to one another.

Particularly, the present invention has as an object the providing of a new and novel hinge for hinging together the folding sections and the central fixed section of a three-way mirror whereby the normally exposed edges may be hidden from view by an operative, decorative covering piece when the folding sections are in closed position and yet which permits such folding sections to be opened without hindrance from or injury to such decorative covering piece.

Additional objects will become apparent from the following description of the invention herein disclosed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION the other of said arms adapted for rotatable attachment to an' end edge of said end plate, (2) a substantially L-shaped hinging member adapted along one of its legs for fixed attachment to the end edge of the other of said walls and having the other leg adapted for rotatable connection adjacent the outer end thereof to the outer end of the shank or central segment of said T-shaped base member, and (3) a linking member comprising a substantially flat bar rotatably connected adjacent one of its ends to that leg of said L-shaped hinging member which is adapted for fixed attachment to an end of one of said walls, said flat bar extending outward beyond the apex of said L-shaped member for rotatable connection to the end edge of said end plate, said linking member, when said hinge is in closed position, lying substantially parallel with the leg of said L-shaped member which is adapted for fixed attachment and parallel to the arm of said T-shaped base member adapted for rotatable attachment to said end plate.

By use of the hinge of the present invention, two walls may be hinged together and have the adjacent edges covered by an end plate which end plate is rotated away from said edges on opening of the walls away from one another, thereby permitting such opening without hindrance. On closing of the walls, the end plate is rotated back adjacent said edges of the said walls to thereby cover said edges.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 of the drawings is a top view of the hinge cf the present invention in closed position and attached to two walls of a structure such as a three-way mirror.

FIG. 2 of the drawings is a top view of the hinge of the present invention in open position and attached to two walls of a structure such as a three-way mirror.

FIG. 3 of the drawings is a top view of the substantially T- shaped base member of the hinge of the present invention.

FIG. 4 of the drawings is a top view of the substantially L- shaped hinging member of the hinge of the present invention.

FIG. 5 of the drawings is a top view of the linking member of the hinge of the present invention.

FIG. 6 of the drawings is an end view of an embodiment of the hinge of the present invention as viewed from the end adapted for attachment to an end plate.

FIG. 7 of the drawings is a side view of an embodiment of the hinge of the present invention as viewed from the side of said hinge adjacent the L-shaped hinging member.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE PRESENT INVENTION To describe the preferred embodiments of the present invention, reference is made to the accompanying drawings. in such drawings, the same characters are used throughout to denote like features of the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, a substantially T-shaped base member 10 is provided. This T-shaped base member is shown in FIGS. l and 2 in attached relation to a base wall 11 of a structure such as a three-way mirror assembly. This attachment is through attaching arm 12 of T-shaped base member 10 which is provided with holes 13 through which screws 14 pass into secured relationship with wall 11.

T-shaped base member 10 is provided with an end-plate connecting arm 15 which extends substantially coplanar with attaching arm 12 but on the opposite side of shank 116 of T- shaped base member 110. Adjacent the outer end of end-plate connecting arm 15, hole 117 is provided through which a pin 18 is passed. Pin 18 extends into end plate 19 (FIGS. 1 and 2) and provides for rotatable connection of end plate 119 and endplate connecting arm 15, either by such pin 18 rotating in connection with end plate 19 or connecting arm T5 or both.

T-shaped base member 10 generally is in the form of a flat T-shaped bar, the particular metal or other material employed, depending upon the strength required. Determination of such material of construction is well within the ability of those skilled in the art and requires no discussion herein. While base member 10 may lie entirely within a single plane, it is somewhat preferred that shank 116 have a depending section 20 (FIG. 6) which provides for the outer end 21 of shank 163 to lie in a plane parallel to that of connecting arm 15 and attaching arm 12 but below or above, as the case may be, such plane at a distance usually approximately equal to the thickness of T-shaped base member 110. The use of such depending section 20 to offset the outer end 21 from the remaining segments of T-shaped base member it) permits the hinge of the present invention to have lesser height.

To outer end 21 of shank 16 of T-shaped base member It), is rotatably connected hinging leg 22 of L-shaped hinging member 23. Rotatable connection is obtained by means of pin 24 which extends through outer end 21 of shank 116 of T- shaped base member and hinging leg 22 of L-shaped hinging member 23. The other or attaching leg 25 of Lshaped hinging member 23 is provided with holes 26 through which screws 27 are passed into secured relationship with foldout wall segment 28.

Rotatably connected to L-shaped hinging member 23 is linking member 29. Such rotatable attachment is by means of pin 30 which extends through a hole 31 adjacent an end of linking member 29 and into a hole 32 in leg 25 of L-shaped hinging member 23. Linking member 29 then extends substantially parallel to such leg 25 but beyond the apex 33 of L- shaped hinging member 23 for rotatable attachment by means of pin 34 extending through opening 35 of such linking member 29 into end plate 19.

The alignment of linking member 29 is of significance to the present invention. Linking member 29 must extend beyond apex 33 of L-shaped hinging member 23 a distance such that it may be joined to end plate 19 with end plate 19 substantially equidistant from the adjacent edges of central wall segment 1 1 and folding wall segment 28 when the two are in parallel or closed relationship as shown in FIG. 1. The rotatable at tachment of linking member 29 to L-shaped hinging member 23 preferably is at a point substantially equidistant or a greater distance from the apex 33 of L-shaped hinging member 23 than the distance which pin 34 is from suchapex 33.

In a particularly preferred embodiment of the present invention, as illustrated in FIG. 6, a depending section 20 is provided in shank 16 of T-shaped base member 10. Such depending section 20, depending upon length and degree of bend, 'will permit either L-shaped hinge member 23 or linking member 29 to lie in the same plane as does attaching arm 12 of T- shaped base member 10. in such manner, the hinge of the present invention does not extend significantly above the upper or lower edge, as the case may be, of walls 11 and 28 and does not require that these walls be of significantly different heights. Of course, instead of providing depending section 20 in shank 16, a like depending section could be provided in leg 22 of L-shaped member 23 without departing from the present invention.

In operation, the hinge of the present invention is secured to walls 11 and 28 by means of screws 14 and 27 extending through holes 13 and 26 of the attaching arm 12 of T-shaped base member and leg 25 of L-shaped hinging member 23, respectively. Connecting arm 15 of T-shaped base member 10 and the outer end of linking member 29 are connected to end plate 19 by means of pins 18 and 34 respectively. Upon opening of wall segment 28, L-shaped hinging member 23 rotates about pin 24 connecting such member with the shank 16 of T- shaped base member 10. As such L-shaped hinging member 23 rotates upon such pin 24, linking member 29 is forced to rotate upon its rotatable connection adjacent each end thereof and in so doing, drives the edge of end plate 19 to which it is attached, outward to thereby permit such L-shaped hinging member 23 to be so rotated without hindrance from end plate 19.

In a particularly useful embodiment of the present invention, the hinge described herein is utilized to join the two foldout wall sections of a three-way mirror to the central wall section thereof. Each of the two foldout wall sections and the central wall provide support and backing to mirrors attached thereto. In this utility, the present hinges are attached to the top and bottom edges of the wall sections and the end plate sections as hereinabove described, particularly with reference to FIGS. 1 and 2. As thefoldout sections of the mirror are opened, the decorative end plate is rotated out of the path of the opening section and upon closure of the foldout section, is rotated back into position to cover the adjacent edges of the central section and thefoldout section.

What is claimed is:

1. A hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped base member, a substantially L-shaped hinging member rotatably attached adjacent an end of a legthereof to the shank of said T-shaped base member, and a linking member rotatably connected adjacent one end thereof to the other leg of said L'- shaped member intermediate the ends thereof, said linking member extending from said rotatable connection toward and beyond the apex of said L-shaped base member a distance such that upon parallel ali nment of said leg of said L-shaped member to which said lln ing member is attached, with said linking member, said linking member extends beyond the apex of said L-shaped member a distance substantially equal to the arm of said T-shaped member extending in the same direction. 2. The hinge of claim 1 wherein said T-shaped base member lies substantially within a single plane.

3. The hinge of claim 1 wherein the shank of said T-shaped base member contains a depending segment intermediate its.

end which places the ends of said shank in different but parallel planes.

4. The hinge of claim 1 wherein said linking member is rotatably connected to said L-shaped member at a distance from the apex of said L-shaped member approximately equal to one-half the length of said linking member.

5. A hinged structure comprising three walls, a center wall and two foldout walls, said center wall being at least approximately equal in width to the combined width of the two foldout walls, said walls being hinged together by hinges connected to adjacent upper and lower edges and said hinges being further rotatably connected to an end member which substantially covers'the adjacent hinged parallel edges of said walls whensaid foldout walls are folded into parallel relationship to said center wall, said hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped base member having one of its arms in fixed attachment to an end edge of said center wall and the other of its arms in rotatable connection to one end edge of said end member, the shank of said T-shaped base member being rotatably connected to a leg of a substantially L-shaped hinging member, the other leg of which is in fixed attachment to an end edge of said foldout walls, a linking member rotatably attached adjacent one end thereof to the attached leg of said L- shaped hinging member and rotatably attached adjacent its opposite end to the end edge of said end member.

6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said T-shaped base member of said hinge lies substantially within a single plane.

7. The structure of claim 5 wherein the shank of said T- shaped base member of said hinge contains a depending segment intermediate its end which places the ends of said shank in different but parallel planes.

' 8. The structure of claim 5 wherein said linking member is rotatably connected to said L-shaped member at a distance 

1. A hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped base member, a substantially L-shaped hinging member rotatably attached adjacent an end of a leg thereof to the shank of said T-shaped base member, and a linking member rotatably connected adjacent one end thereof to the other leg of said L-shaped member intermediate the ends thereof, said linking member extending from said rotatable connection toward and beyond the apex of said L-shaped base member a distance such that upon parallel alignment of said leg of said L-shaped member to which said linking member is attached, with said linking member, said linking member extends beyond the apex of said L-shaped member a distance substantially equal to the arm of said T-shaped member extending in the same direction.
 2. The hinge of claim 1 wherein said T-shaped base member lies substantially within a single plane.
 3. The hinge of claim 1 wherein the shank of said T-shaped base member contains a depending segment intermediate its end which places the ends of said shank in different but parallel planes.
 4. The hinge of claim 1 wherein said linking member is rotatably connected to said L-shaped member at a distance from the apex of said L-shaped member approximately equal to one-half the length of said linking member.
 5. A hinged structure comprising three walls, a center wall and two foldout walls, said center wall being at least approximately equal in width to the combined width of the two foldout walls, said walls being hinged together by hinges connected to adjacent upper and lower edges and said hinges being further rotatably connected to an end member which substantially covers the adjacent hinged parallel edges of said walls when said foldout walls are folded into parallel relationship to said center wall, said hinge comprising a substantially T-shaped base member having one of its arms in fixed attachment to an end edge of said center wall and the other of its arms in rotatable connection to one end edge of said end member, the shank of said T-shaped base member being rotatably connected to a leg of a substantially L-shaped hinging member, the other leg of which is in fixed attachment to an end edge of said foldout walls, a linking member rotatably attached adjacent one end thereof to the attached leg of said L-shaped hinging member and rotatably attached adjacent its opposite end to the end edge of said end member.
 6. The structure of claim 5 wherein said T-shaped base member of said hinge lies substantially within a single plane.
 7. The structure of claim 5 wherein the shank of said T-shaped base member of said hinge contains a depending segment intermediate its end which places the ends of said shank in different but parallel planes.
 8. The structure of claim 5 wherein said linking member is rotatably connected to said L-shaped member at a distance from the apex of said L-shaped member at least approximately equal to one-half the length of said linking member. 